ISU students Christy Calderwood and Emily Cook sat through an entire banquet nervously waiting for the moment when the 2015 Iowa Pork Queen and Pork Princess would be announced.

This was Calderwood’s second time attempting to win the crown and she said she was even more nervous having been made aware of her weaknesses.

She had taken the past year to work on those weaknesses and prepare to once again fight for the chance to be Pork Queen, Calderwood said.

To enter the contest, both girls had to submit an application with a biography of themselves and a completed essay question. Once applicants were chosen, they attended Iowa Pork Congress.

“I had to have a personal interview with the judges … [a] quiz on pork facts in Iowa and then I had to give a speech,” Calderwood said. “I had 30 minutes to prepare, [it] had to be three to five minutes [and] I also had to give a media interview.”

Calderwood was named the Pork Queen, Cook was named the Pork Princess and Alex Conover, another ISU student, was named the Iowa Pork Youth Ambassador.

Calderwood said she believed she had done well in the competition and she was enthused to hear her name called.

“I felt that this year we had a good competition throughout all of us and that any one of us could have been really good representatives for the state of Iowa,” she said.

Both girls grew up on Iowa farms involved in the pork industry.

“I grew up on a wean-finish hog operation with a partnership in a farrowing unit, so I’ve done daily chores and I’ve helped vaccinate throughout most of my whole life,” Calderwood said. “I really, really enjoy working with animals, but pigs especially. They seem to really take a liking to me.”

Calderwood works with swine and dairy researchers at Iowa State and is interning at Murphy-Brown LLC, the livestock production subsidiary of Smithfield Foods.

“The way I was brought up was pigs were meant for food, so I never really got the emotional attachment of a pet,” Calderwood said. “But I would go in with the piglets and sit and play with them, hold them [and] cuddle them.

“I go in and still sing to the pigs when I’m doing chores here at my internship,” she said. “I treat them kindly like I would treat a pet, [but] I never had that emotional attachment to them.”

Cook’s involvement while growing up on a pig farm encouraged her decision to pursue agricultural studies.

“I grew up on a pig farm, so I’ve been around it my whole life,” Cook said. “I really enjoy the farm a lot and all the different aspects of agriculture. I love the people that are involved in it. And so that was kind of my deciding factor on becoming an agriculture major.”

Since their crowning, the two ISU students have been busy attending promotions and fairs, such as the Florida State Fair, March of Dimes, Animal Learning Day at Iowa State, World Pork Expo and the Safeway National Capital Barbecue Battle in Washington D.C.

The Pork Queen and Pork Princess will also attend the Iowa State Fair and will perform duties such as handing out ribbons at hog shows, being present at pork contests and sitting in the Animal Learning Center holding piglets and speaking with visitors.  

“The Animal Learning Center, where they’ve got pigs set up that are farrowing — having little piglets — we will sit there just to talk to people,” Cook said. “A lot of kids are there, so we’ll just be answering questions.”

Calderwood said being Pork Queen has enabled her to speak more openly and comfortably to people.

“It has really opened me up to talking to people and being very comfortable, especially under pressure on the radio and different interviews as well,” Calderwood said. “So it really has set me up with good communication skills.

“I really want to get the word out there about pork and how it’s good for you and that we’re not bad people. We really care about our animals and everything that goes into it because what all of our consumers are eating is what we’re eating, and so obviously we want a good, wholesome product.”

Cook said she has also enjoyed her time as Pork Princess.

“It was a good opportunity to get to meet a lot of the industry people and get a little experience in there,” Cook said. “It has been an amazing experience.”